Martha Stewart Heating tool for embossing

I have been watching some YouTube videos to get some inspiration for making some new cards and have been seeing a lot of card makers use the heating tool. So I figured I would pick one up and see what I could create. What have I been missing?? I should have bought one of these a long time ago. Sometimes from the videos (and even in some of the pictures for the cards I am going to post) won’t show the final result as shiny and amazing as it is in real life. I think that by using the embossing powder and heating tool, it gives a new look to the card and adds that something extra. I am a big fan of the heating tool and hopefully the next couple of blogs will showcase what I have been able to do with it!

For the first card, I used the Hero Arts Stunning Snowflakes background stamp and applied Versa Mark ink so that I could use the embossing powder. I made sure to cover the background (which took a couple of times of inking up and stamping since the card background is much larger than the stamp) and then I sprinkled Martha Stewart Sterling embossing powder all of the card. I then hit it with the heat gun.

*A couple of things I learned when using the heat gun – First, I wasn’t sure when the embossing powder was set. If you start to turn the card and it looks shiny where you were just heat embossing, it is starting to set. It will almost look like foil. Don’t overheat it, but if you don’t heat it enough the embossing powder won’t stick. (You may be able to see in my card there are places that I didn’t heat enough and some of the embossing powder fell off.) Second, make sure you hold the heating tool about two inches away from the area you are working in and use a circular motion to keep it moving so as to not burn the section you are working on. Third, if you are heating a large area, like the background of this card, it is probably easiest to start at the top of the card and work down, that way you don’t miss any areas. I think that was part of my problem with this particular card – I just had the heating tool all over the place.*

Okay – back to the card! After I set the embossing powder on the card, I used the Cricut to cut out the words “Let It Snow” using the Winter Frolics cartridge. I cut the phrase and the phrase shadow out at 2 1/2″ and used Pop Dots to attach them to the bottom left hand corner of the card. For the envelope, I used another studio g stamp, a single snowflake, inked in Silver Ink It Up! ink.

The second card I made with the heating tool is an ornament card. I started off with three different ornament stamp. I stamped two on red paper and one on green. The stamps I used are (in order) Studio G Ornament stamp, Paper Artsy stamp from Inkadinkadoo and an ornament stamp by Recollections. Again I used Versa Mark ink to stamp them and then used Martha Stewart embossing powder. On the red paper ornaments, I used Peridot embossing powder and on the green paper I used Tourmaline embossing powder. I set them with the heating tool (it was a little easier this time since the ornaments were a lot smaller of an area to cover than a background stamp!) and then once they were done I cut them out, leaving a small border around the outside. By leaving that border I think it gives you some room for error and it makes the shapes look a little nicer. (That’s just my opinion though!) I took a piece of paper from the 4×6 Recollections Signature Jolly and Bright pack, glued it down to the card front, as well as the ornaments I made to the patterned paper. (I use a Scotch 3M glue stick to glue almost all my pieces down).

For the sentiment, I used another Studio G stamp “Bright and Merry”. I inked it up with Versa Mark ink and then used the Tourmaline embossing powder. I used Pop Dots to adhere the saying to the front of the card after I used the specialty scissors to cut a wavy design around the edges of the sentiment. Lastly, for the envelope, I used another Recollections stamp, a row of holly leaves. I used my stamp markers and colored in the leaves green and the berries and scrolls in red.

A couple of things about using the heating tool:
1 – Make sure you use it over a craft mat. It gets VERY hot in the area that you use the tool in and stays that way for awhile.
2 – When you use the craft mat, let it cool down before you put any of your projects on to glue down. I didn’t and it warped the glue for the background paper for one of my cards.
3 – Do not overheat the embossing powder. You will burn it. When the powder starts to look like foil, it is set. For the sparkly embossing powders (like the red and green I used in the above card), it is a little more difficult to tell when they are set. They become shiny and melted together. If you aren’t sure you can run your hand over the embossing powder, but wait a couple of seconds after taking the heating gun off the area or else you can burn your fingers.
4 – Put your embossing powder into ziploc containers and use a spoon to pour the powder onto your project. I have been using the containers that they come in, but I think it will be easier to control if you use a spoon to apply the powder.
These are just a couple of things I found either while watching YouTube videos from other crafters or figured out myself as I was making these cards. If you have any other tips, please share them!!

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About scrapsecrets

Fairly new to scrapbooking and learning as I go. I wanted to share some of my tips with others who may be new to scrapbooking or card making. Feel free to comment or make suggestions on any of my work or ideas - I love feedback! Especially if it's about a new product I should try - I love getting new material!
Check out my other blog thecreativeconsultant.wordpress.com for tips on party planning, ideas for party themes and how to stretch your party budget!
*I do not get paid to endorse any of the products and/or retailers I talk about in my blog.*

This was written forever ago, but I just read it today and thank you for it! I just purchased the MS embossing tool and her embossing kit tonight as my first foray into embossing. I needed the little tips about circling the tool and whatnot since I’m going blindly into this. Thanks again! 🙂